


Planet Loop

by orphan_account



Category: Devilman (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, spoilers for devilbaby cryman, spoilers for the series in general really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 13:40:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13435896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Ryo takes the time to reflect on his past with Akira and the cycle begins again.





	Planet Loop

The trees outside swayed in the wind, their branches beating against the window like an angry intruder. Relatively safe and sound, two boys stayed put inside a bedroom. Their homework was strewn across the floor, a mess of half-done worksheets. For now, though, thoughts of school had vanished out of the window. (“Teacher can’t penalize you if you’re dead,” Ryo had explained pointedly. Tears had only streamed down Akira’s face at a faster rate. “I won’t let you die, Ryo!” “Shut up. You’re overreacting.”) Akira squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the blanket wrapped around his shoulders even tighter. His small body shook even worse when the rumble of thunder made the whole house tremble. 

“We’ll be fine,” Ryo reassured. He stood in front of the window, his nose pressed against the glass. An eerie brightness from outside illuminated his face, all other sources of light snuffed out by the storm. 

“Get away from there,” Akira cautioned, eyes wide with concern. He scrambled to his bed and ducked behind the side farthest from the window. “Mom said that you should stay away from windows when it’s storming like this. That and trees.” A pause. Akira’s eyes opened even wider. “Ryo, you should totally get away from there! Please!”

Ryo glanced behind him. Upon seeing his best (and only) friend’s concern, his expression softened, and he took a step back from the window. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Shuffling his feet, Ryo calmly walked to the bed and dropped down beside Akira, who draped the former with part of his blanket. Ryo made no attempt to inch away. “We’ll be fine,” he repeated.

“Even so, what about the family of cats that live in my yard?” Akira cried out. “They don’t have shelter like we do, and it’s completely flooded out there, and there might be a tornado, I think!” 

Ryo blinked at his friend’s tears for the cats. He wondered why Akira cared so much, only to attribute it to the boy’s heart-on-his-sleeve qualities. “They’ll be okay, too,” he claimed softly. These words seemed to stifle Akira’s tears. His hiccups faded until the only sounds left were the howling wind and rain hitting the roof.

 

They were older now, but they hadn’t changed.

Akira and Ryo walked to the park together after school, standing shoulder to shoulder. Akira showed his friend his grade on the most recent math quiz: a bright red “20% -- Please pay attention in class” marked the top of his paper. He wore a sheepish smile, even when Ryo admitted that he had also received a low grade. “Maybe she’s a bad teacher,” Akira remarked. 

“Perhaps,” Ryo agreed. 

Akira crumbled up the piece of paper and tossed it at a trash can. It made an arch in the air, hit the rim of the trash can, and tumbled onto the sidewalk. Frowning, he cursed his inaccuracy, ran to pick up the paper, and deposited it into its rightful place inside the trash. Ryo waited for him to return patiently. 

“I think I’m going to join a sport when I’m older.” Akira explained that he wanted to get stronger and more athletic.

Ryo frowned. “Why?”

Akira shrugged and smiled brightly. “I just want to.” He puffed out his puny chest and flexed his nonexistent muscles. “I want to be the strongest, Ryo. You can be second-strongest, if you want.”

Ryo sighed and started walking again, making Akira take especially long strides to catch up. They approached the same intersection they had crossed every day. It wasn’t a particularly busy time of day. Occasionally, one or two cars would speed down the road at an inconsiderate speed, but, then again, who was watching? The two boys stopped at the end of the sidewalks as they usually did. 

“There’s a squirrel in the middle of the road,” Akira huffed.

Ryo had been looking down at his shoes, inspecting the specks of dirt on his white sneakers with annoyance. He didn’t look up until he heard the car horn. Instinctively, Ryo reached out, grabbed the back of Akira’s shirt, and watched as a car barreled past with wide eyes. His heart pounded against his ribs, for reasons Ryo didn’t entirely understand. Akira looked back at him, wearing a thankful smile. The squirrel looked back at the two boys, almost tauntingly. Ryo glared at it until another movement caught his attention. He could have sworn that he had seen a face with an extremely wide grin in the bush. Ryo quickly blamed it on his imagination, but the chilly feeling in his chest remained.

 

One day, Ryo found Akira running laps in front of the house he now lived in with his parents’ close friends. The boy bent over, his hands placed firmly on his knees. His dark hair was so sweaty that it stuck to his forehead, and his legs shook from exertion. Smelling the stench of perspiration, Ryo went to cover his nose. “What are you doing?” he asked Akira. 

“Training!” Akira managed to gasp out. He smiled confidently at Ryo and stood up straight. He wiped sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “I’m going to join the high school track team in a few years. My friend Miki’s part of the junior high one, and she’s always on about how fun it is, so I thought I would give it a try.” 

At the mention of Akira’s friend, Ryo stiffened a little, but relaxed after seeing how pleased Akira looked with his new goal. “Sounds fun.”

“You should try out!”

“Can’t run.”

Akira pouted. 

“I don’t walk quickly, let alone run,” Ryo pointed out with a sigh. “I would watch you from the stands.” 

However, Ryo didn’t. A couple of weeks following that encounter, Ryo announced to a very teary Akira that he was moving. He introduced his childhood friend to his new caretaker, an unblinking, smiling woman named Jenny. Akira had wrapped Ryo into a bone-crushing embrace, refusing to let go for a long time. As he left, Ryo had looked straight forward, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest. 

Akira didn’t practice as much after that.

 

Just as the seasons came again, Akira and Ryo met again. How had all that become this? Ryo pretended not to feel affection for Akira, a smug grin hiding his true feelings. It had spiraled out of control, thanks to Ryo’s ignorance, and now…

Ryo cradled the body close to his chest, golden hair draped over his beloved’s face. They had been in a similar position before—recently, even. If he ignored the throbbing feeling in his heart, the lack of Akira’s lower half, and the dead, unseeing look in Akira’s darkened eyes, then he could pretend that it was just like that time. The lack of warmth. The body was cold, the world was cold, and the oceans flowed with cold blood. 

An unkind God smiled down at them.   
Before His light could rain down on Earth once more, Ryo stretched out his wings to cover Akira’s body. Until the next time, and an even crueler story would unfold. He bid Akira good night and waited. In this Earth’s last moments, tears slid down his cheeks, and Satan vowed to not make the same mistakes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! ^_^  
> I've been dragged into Devilman by the ankles. ^_^''   
> The title is from a song of the same name by Nayutalien (kind of a lighthearted song but it Fits)!


End file.
